After a week of Network 10 heavily promoting the bombshell — and speculation it could be anything from her being secretly married to having a peg leg — Brooke’s big reveal that she’d previously dated women was somewhat underwhelming.

After becoming noticeably flustered during the lie detector group date, the 23-year-old youth worker took Nick Cummins aside at the cocktail party.

“There’s something I really want to tell you. I’ve been waiting for the right time, because I felt like it is something big and it is something you should know as we go on and we develop this connection. I feel really strongly about you in terms of who you are as a person,” a panicked-sounding Brooke told Nick.

“I’ve had four relationships since I was 17. I was with a guy for three years … and this is really uncomfortable for me to tell you, but I’ve also had two relationships with women.

Brooke was noticeably flusteredSource:Channel 10

Nick wasn’t bothered by Brooke’s big ‘revelation’Source:Channel 10

“But I’m a big person of who you are inside, obviously not face value and what you look like or what you are. So for me, when I was in those relationships, I looked beyond what they were as female, and I really loved who they were as people.”

Brooke was quick to clarify she wasn’t “bisexual or a lesbian or anything like that” because she found men more attractive and wanted to have children with a man.

Nick’s reaction to Brooke’s ‘bombshell’ was about as exciting as it she’d just told him she hated pineapple on pizza and pretty much summed up how viewers felt watching the moment unfold.

So Brooke’s had relationships with women before?

Sure, she wanted to tell him, understandable, but the whole ‘skeletons in the closet, she has something to be ashamed of’ vibe in the lead up.. not cool @TheBachelorAU#TheBachelorAU

“We are just souls inhabiting a body, trying to find our way, and we work out the direction we actually want to take in the end,” Nick said.

“And if you’ve worked out what direction that is, then it has no effect on me moving forward.”

Other viewers took issue with how Brooke described her sexuality, with AFLW player Moana Hope criticising the contestant for implying she could only have children with a man.

“FYI 3 letters, IVF,” Moana wrote on Instagram, the sports star also joking that she needed to break up with her girlfriend.

AFLW player Moana Hope was frustrated by Brooke's comments about wanting childrenSource:Instagram

Okay, sorry for the #TheBachelorAU spam. I love Brooke so much and want to give her the benefit of the doubt and believe that she’s still someone trying to figure out her sexuality.But there was an issue with the way the show portrayed this.

In a statement to news.com.au, a Network 10 spokesperson defended Brooke’s big reveal, saying: “Brooke felt this was a secret she was keeping from Nick, so after her discussion with the human lie detector, Steve Van Aperen, she believed it was important to tell Nick to ensure he knew she was being honest and upfront about her past relationships.”

It’s not the first time the reality TV series has come under fire for its treatment of sexuality, with Bachelor in Paradise accused of ‘queerbaiting’ earlier this year.

The show was slammed for making it appear Megan Marx and Elora Murger had kissed in a teaser when in fact Megan had locked lips with male contestant Thomas Perras.

The franchise has also come under fire for 'queerbaiting' on Bachelor in ParadiseSource:Channel 10

“I was frustrated, and Channel 10 knows that. It’s definitely queerbaiting, and I hate the idea of the queer community being offended and upset,” Megan previously told news.com.au about the controversy.

“I definitely was. I don’t have control over editing or promotion or any of that stuff, so it was frustrating. Not a whole lot that I could do about it but make a public statement and say that it sucks.”

NOT HERE TO MAKE FRIENDS: James Weir and Beck Sullivan recap The Bachelor 2018 episode 9

NOT HERE TO MAKE FRIENDS: James Weir and Beck Sullivan recap The Bachelor 2018 episode 9